Southerners have some great sayings. One of my favorites is to claim that your day is all catawampus. Who knows where this came from. It is not really a word, although nowadays you can probably find it in a dictionary. It basically means something is askew, or awry. I looked it up, many people believe it came from the phrase cater-cornered. Meaning, not quite lined up right. You might look at a row of trees, or a set of tiles that have a few messed up and not lined up correctly. You could then claim it was all catawampus.
The south has some great phrases that just mean way more than the actual word. There is meaning dripping from a phrase and the way that you say it. The way you drag it out. So around 11am this morning, after dealing with a bunch of BS all morning, I leaned back in my chair and said to myself. This day is all catawampus. That brought a smile to my face. I was able to continue.
The point is that you are going to have things in your life that are catawampus, some days are just not going to work out. Deal with that, suck it up, get what you need done, done. Do not allow yourself to give up or throw in the towel because something is askew. Fight through it, make it work anyway. Do not give into despair. Go on anyway, despite the imperfections. Actually, get going because of the imperfections.
Guy Reams
